Metallurgical apparatus – Means treating solid metal – By contact with gas
Patent
1992-04-13
1994-03-22
Kastler, Scott
Metallurgical apparatus
Means treating solid metal
By contact with gas
266249, C23C 818
Patent
active
052956687
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a metal tube oxidation treatment apparatus, and relates particularly to a metal tube oxidation treatment apparatus for carrying out the inactivation treatment of the metal tube used in a super high purity gas piping system and a super high vacuum apparatus.
In recent years, the technology for realizing super high vacuum, or the technology for producing a reduced pressure atmosphere of super high purity by making a small flow amount of a predetermined gas flow into a vacuum chamber has become very important. These technologies are widely used in the research of material characteristics, the formation of various kinds of thin films, the production of semiconductor devices, etc., and as a result, although more and more high vacuum degree has been realized, but it is very strongly desired further to realize a reduced pressure atmosphere in which the mixing of impurity elements and impurity molecules has been reduced to the extreme limit.
For example, when it is exemplified with the case of the semiconductor device, the dimension of unit elements has become smaller year by year in order to improve the assembling degree of the integrated circuit, and research and development are actively carried out in order to practically obtain the semiconductor devices having the dimension of 1 .mu.m to submicron, and further, less than 0.5 .mu.m.
The production of such a semiconductor device as described above is carried out by repeating the procedure for forming thin films, the procedure for etching the formed thin films to a predetermined circuit pattern, etc. Then, in the process such as described above, it is usual to carry out the procedure in a super high vacuum state or in a reduced pressure atmosphere in which a predetermined gas has been introduced by putting the silicon wafers in general in a vacuum chamber. If impurities are mixed in these procedures, there are generated problems such as, for example, the film quality of thin films is deteriorated, and the accuracy of the fine finishing can not be obtained. This is the reason why the super high vacuum and the reduced pressure atmosphere of super high purity are requested.
As one of the greatest causes which prevented the realization of the super high vacuum and the reduced pressure atmosphere of super high purity, can be cited the gas released from the surface of the stainless steel and the like which are widely used in the chamber and gas pipings. Especially, it was the greatest pollution source that the water adsorbed on the surface was separated out in vacuum or in the reduced pressure atmosphere.
FIG. 6 is a graph for showing the relationship between the total leak amount of the system added with the gas piping system and reaction chambers in various kinds of apparatus (the sum of the released gas amount from the piping system and the reaction chamber internal surface and the external part leak) and the pollution of the gas. By the way, it is assumed that the original gas does not perfectly contain impurities. Plural number of lines in the figure show the result of the cases in which the flow amount has been changed to various values by making it as a parameter. Although it is a matter of course, that the less the gas flow amount becomes, the more the effect of the released gas from the internal surface is revealed, and the impurity concentration becomes relatively high.
The semiconductor process has such a tendency as to decrease the flow amount of the gas more and more in order to realize the procedures of higher accuracy such as the hole opening, the hole burying, etc. of high aspect ratio, and for example, it is usual, for example, in the process of submicron ULSI to use the flow amount of several ten cc/min or the less. When it is assumed that the flow amount of 10 cc/min is tentatively used, there is the system total leak about 10.sup.-3 to 10.sup.-6 Torr.multidot.l/sec in such a manner as in the apparatus widely used at present, the purity of the gas becomes 1% to 10 ppm, and it becomes far f
REFERENCES:
patent: 4032369 (1977-06-01), Jatczak et al.
Hayashi Shigeki
Nakahara Fumio
Nakahara Yoshiyuki
Ohmi Tadahiro
Ohta Eiji
Kastler Scott
Osaka Sanso Kogyo Kabushiki-Kaisha
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